The Settlers of Kat-Anne
by Homebrandz
Summary: The island of Catan is discovered, and its mysteries explored!


The Settlers of Kat-Anne

Katherine, or Kat-Anne as she'd always been called as a child, took in the majestic sight before her. Land. She and her family had been at sea for months; she had forgotten what it felt like to feel solid ground beneath her feet! This was a glorious day; finally, the disputed legendary island 'Catan' would finally be settled. Her family had endured the ridicule of the entire town with their steadfast belief in the existence of the place. Well, they had been right all along, and Kat could not wait to see the faces of all the townsfolk when they returned, weighed down by gems and riches! Maybe then they would stop avoiding her, deriding her, rejecting her.

The ship made ground along a grassy field by the bank. As she disembarked from the boat, Kat took notice of the people from other boats of the fleet. They were predominantly young, and mostly men, strong and hardened from the laborious months at sea. The second thing she noticed was that the island had extremely odd geography. A towering mountain range stretched towards the sky on her left, yet it immediately met level, green pastures, with no inkling of even the smallest foothill separating the two, as if two very different pieces of the earth had just been placed next to each other for no reason. Kat shrugged it off. This _was_ the legendary island of Catan, after all. Together with her parents and younger brothers, she moved forward onto the island and began to explore.

That night, Kat and a bunch of other settlers were sitting around a small settlement of huts. Having discovered various strange resources on the island, such as logs always grouped in threes and pre-formed bricks, settlements had popped up across the land in the blink of an eye. Truly, the island provided for its residents, as foretold by the legends. It had been a glorious day.

"Mother… Father… could I ask you something?" Kat began nervously to her parents after a break in their conversation about how much they would appreciate it if there happened to be gold on the island. "I'd… I'd like to make a fresh start here. Away from the rumors and mocking of the townsfolk back home. Please, can I go talk to those boys over there? I want to make friends with people my own age."

"Katherine…", began her mother, but her father interrupted her.

"No, Schwianna, Katherine's 14 now. She's old enough to make her own decisions now. We should let her go."

Kat's mother looked into her eyes, and she spoke. "Alright… we trust you, Katherine. Go ahead."

Joy came into Kat's eyes. "Oh, thank you, Mother! Father!"

She went over to the boys and introduced herself. There were three there; the burliest of the three had impressive sideburns that came dangerously close to the corners of his mouth. The next one was not as big physically, although his enormous nose made up for that lacking. The last was thin and wiry but Kat noticed he strangely had disproportionately enormous feet. Up close, they actually looked several years older than her, but she made herself keep going. They had barely got a conversation going when the boy with the sideburns suddenly suggested,

"Hey! Would you like to come to a special spot with us? We found this cool place not far away! We made a cool little hideaway where you can watch the sea."

Kat glanced back at her parents, over by the fire. "Go on," their knowing eyes seemed to say. Kat turned back.

"Okay!"

The boys led the way. After walking for almost half an hour, they came to the edge of the pasture, where the mountains met flat ground.

"Well, here we are!" said the boy with sideburns. Kat was perplexed.

"Where is it? You can't see the sea at all from here. We're blocked in by these mountains – you can't see anything at all!"

The wiry boy glanced at his big-nosed friend, with a smirk on his face. He reached out with his long arms and grabbed her.

"Hey- Hey now, what do you think yo-" Kat managed to stutter, but the boy with the sideburns moved towards her and slapped her on the face, silencing her. "You can't do this!" The big-nosed boy joined the others next to her. As they converged upon her, tearing at her clothes, grabbing at her bosom, feeling for her wetness, she began to weep.

The day was a glorious day. Kat-Anne had finally been settled.


End file.
